Pack of cards for sentence building game



De.9,1969 GTRAGEMR 3,482,333

PACK OF CARDS FOR SENTENGE BUILDING GAME Filed oct. 2e, 1967 2sheets-sheet 1 i KX x 33* l 1 -l I J] l v 3 LO 3m L@ Qa 93g @segg w3 wg.LL Z J O lr m (D LL n z LL Egg Ll. L L1 E..- 8 La tt, r

\ ATTORNEYS Dec. 9, 1

Filed Oct. 26, 1967 PRONOUN YOU,THEY

PRoNouN You, HER,H|M,

THEM

PRoNouN Mvpzoun,

lTs, HER

CONAIUNCTION PRONOUN AND l VERE SEEN, HIDDEN FIC-3.25

vERB sAYs,

Knows VERE DO, DON'T F IGSI ARTICLE A,AN THE J. G.`TRAGER, JR

OF CARDS FOR SENTENCE BUILDING GAME F|G.l|

PRoNouN |T,ANvoNE, SOMETHING,

ETc.

-F|G.|4 coNTRAcTloN lvE, You'vE F |G.|7 PRoNouN ouRs,vouRs,

MINE

FIGZO A Y VERB |S,LETS, HAS,

TICKLES ETC.

FIGZB vERB HAD,LosT

ETC.

vERB ARE,wERE, AREHT ADJECTWES FIGBZ ADVERB 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGJZcoHTRAc'rloN F|G.|8 CONJUNCTION- PRONOUN AND ME K|ss,BEAT, EHvT, wANTVERB wAs, wAswT F IGSO AovERB ALWAYS, THEN,ETc.

INVENTOR. v JAMES s. TRAGER,JR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent C) 3,482,333 PACK OF CARDS FOR SENTENCEBUILDING GAME James G. Trager, Jr., 509 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y.10022 Filed Oct. 26, 1967, Ser. No. 678,410 Int. Cl. G09b 19/00; A63f1/04; A6311 33/04 U.S. Cl. 35-35 6 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Eachcard has a part of speech such as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.The left and/or right portions of each card are coded to match with anadjacent card which is appropriate to build a grammatically correctsentence. There are a large number of such cards to make possible alarge number of different sentences all of which will be grammaticallycorrect, but some of which may be amusingly nonsensical in content. Thecodlng may be by color or by symbol, and preferably by both. The symbolsmay be printed or may be formed by notches in the edge of the card. Thecoding is dilerent for a singular noun compared to a plural noun, or fora singular pronoun compared to a plural pronoun, andthe cards have verbswith appropriate variations to provide grammatically correct usage.

Faulty use of English grammar and syntax in speaking and writingpresents a common social and economlc handicap to many, particularlythose of foreign birth, or certain ethnic groups, or those having anunderprivileged background. Conventional methods of teaching correctusage are generally tedious, and often ineffective.

The card game of the present invention serves to entertain children andadults, and at the same time to teach and reinforce certain basic rulesand prohibitions of English grammar. A large number, say two hundred ormore cards, may be provided for playing the game. In the illustratedexample there may be two, three or four players, but there could bemore. Each card carries a part of speech such as a noun, iverb,adjective or adverb, etc., and the left and right portions of each cardare coded to match with an adjacent card which is appropriate to build agrammatically correct sentence. The large number of cards makes possiblea large number of sentences which will be grammatically correct, butmany of which may be amusingly nonsensical.

The code for matching the cards may use color or symbols, and preferablyboth. Proper matching of cards preferably requires location of a symbolon a particular color, and also preferably requires proper location of asymbol along the edge of the card, thus providing a very large number ofpossible combinations.

A player matches a color and symbol on the right edge of one card to acolor and symbol on the left edge of the next card, and this createssentences which are grammatically correct. The intricate coding of thecards prevents a player from committing such common errors as he dont orI seen. The nonsense arrangement of the cards frequently is amusing andentertaining.

If desired some cards may be made first cards by putting code marks ononly the right edge, and some may be made last cards by putting codemarks on only the left edge.

The foregoing and additional features are described in the followingdetailed specification, which is accompanied by drawings in which:

ICS

FIG. 1 shows four cards arranged to form a sentence;

FIG. 2 shows the sentence expanded by the insertion of an additionalmatching card;

FIG. 3 shows four cards like those in FIG. 1, but using notched symbolsinstead of printed symbols;

FIG. 3A shows a modification;

FIGS. 4 through 31 show cards making up most of a particular deck ofcards, with examples of color and symbol coding; and

FIG. 32 represents the back of a card used for educa tional or schoolpurposes.

In the particular cards here illustrated, the coding makes use of sixcolors and seven symbols. The colors used in this example are blue,green, red, orange, brown and yellow. The symbols may be arbitrary, andthose here shown are a circle, a square, a triangle, an invertedtriangle, a diamond, a heart and a star. The location of the symbolalong the edge of the card, that is its distance from the top and bottomof the card, is also a part of the code, and requires matching whendisposing the cards side by side to build a sentence.

After a suitable number of cards, say eight, are distributed by a dealerfrom the pack to the players, a `first player puts down a card 12 which,in FIG. 1, has the noun popcorn The next player may put down the card 14which has the verb tickles The left portion of card 14 is coloredorange, like the right portion of card 12, and in addition, both cardshave symbols, in this case a square at 16, which match.

The next player may put down the card 18 reading my. In this case theright portion of card 14 is colored green at the top and bottom, andyellow in the middle. The left portion of card 18 is green, and has asquare symbol 20 which matches with. a like symbol on card 14, bothmatching symbols being on the Same background color, as they should be.

A fourth player may put down the card 22 carrying the word giraffes Thecode is satisfied because the adjacent parts of the cards are coloredyellow, and have a triangle symbol 24 in matched locations.

The next player, which would be the rst player when there are fourplayers, may lengthen the sentence by inserting the card 26 with theadjective naked between the cards 18 and 22. The code is satised becausethe triangle 28 on a yellow background matches the triangle 3), which isalso on a yellow background at the right portion of card 18. Similarlythe triangle 32 on a yellow background at the right edge of card 26matches the triangle 34 on a yellow background at the left edge of card22. If no further word can be added by another player, the sentence isWon by the addition of card 26, this being the last word. The resultingsentence Popcorn tickles my naked giraffes is grammatically correct, andnonsensical enough to be highly amusing.

The symbols may be notched in the edges of the cards, instead of beingprinted on the cards. Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 3, in whichthe cards 40, 42, 44 and 46 correspond to the cards shown in FIG. l, andare similarly coded for color and symbol, but in each case the notchcorresponds to half of a symbol. The adjacent card is oppositelynotched, and the two notches form a complete symbol. More specifically,the left edge of card 40 is notched for a triangle and an invertedtriangle; the right edge of card 40 is notched for a square and a heart;the left edge of card 42 is notched for a square; the right edge of card`42 is notched for a square and an inverted trin angle; the left edge ofcard 44 is notched for a square;

3 and so on. The right edge of card 46 is notched at 48 for a square; at50 for a circle; at 52 for a diamond, and at 54 for a heart.

The game may be played in accordance with varied rules. One example of asuitable introduction and rules may be set out as follows:

The object of the game is to have the last word and thus score points bywinning sentences, which players construct using nouns, pronouns,articles, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, etc. These appear onmulticolored, symbolcoded cards. By matching a color and a symbol on theright edge of one card to a color and a symbol on the left edge ofanother card, players create sentences which are always grammaticallycorrect, and often amusing.

Six colors and seven symbols are employed. Most ungrammaticalconstructions are ruled out by the color and symbol coding. Othersolecisms, and shapeless run-on sentences, are ruled out by the rule'sof play.

Note: Do all sentences have subjects, verbs and objects? Some dont. Andsome dont illustrates a point. You might call it an answer sentence; asentence spoken or written in answer to a question. Answer sentences arequite acceptable in this game. So are title sentences, the kind ofstatement which might be used as the title of a book.

I-Iow to play:

(1) Shuffle the cards thoroughly and select a dealer.

(2) Dealer deals out cards, one at a time, until each player has eightcards.

(3) Player at dealers left places a word face-up in the middle of thetable.

(4) Going clockwise, next player adds a word if he can, matching a colorand symbol on the right edge of a card to a color and symbol on the leftedge of the rst card, or matching a card to the right edge of the firstcard. Note: Some cards will have two, three or even four colors on oneedge. Any one of these colors may be matched. If more than one symbolappears on a color, any one symbol must also be matched.

(5) Next player, if he can, adds a third word, extending from leftorright, or inserted between the rst two words.

(6) If a player is unable to add a word, he may drop out of competitionfor that sentence, or he may exchange any three of his cards, turningthem over to the dealer (who retires them from play for the rest of thatgame), and receiving three new cards in return. This costs the playerten points (a player may have a minus number of points). Having receivedthree new cards, player adds one to the sentence on the table if he can.

(7) After each player has used one card, a player in his later turn maychoose any of the following courses:

(a) He may add up to three words at one time. Or-

(b) He may substitute a card in his hand for one in the sentence on thetable. This keeps the player in the game and may win him the sentence,but a word once removed from a sentence may not be put back into thatsentence. It must be set aside until the sentence has been won Or l (c)He may exchange any three cards (but no less than three) as explained inRule No. 6. Cards exchanged may not include cards removed from thesentence under the substitution rule. Or-

(d) He may challenge the sentence set up by the previous players card.He may challenge it on the ground that it isnt a true sentence, or thatit is just plain gibberish. Challenged player may substitute anothercard which completes the sentence. Or he may add up to three cards fromhis own hand which complete the sentence. Or, if it is an answersentence, he must suggest the question to which the sentence is ananswer. If the challenged player meets the challenge, he receives doublepoint credits (see below). If he fails, the challenger wins thenon-sentence, including any points added by the previous players card.

4 (8) Point counts for sentences are as follows:

a two-word sentence counts 0;

a three-word sentence counts 3;

a four-word sentence counts 5;

a tive-word sentence counts 10;

a sixword sentence counts 15;

a seven-word sentence counts 20; and an eight-word sentence counts 25.

(9) No sentence may be longer than eight words. When eight words havebeen reached, a player may substitute but he may not add.

(10) In his turn, a player may rearrange the existing words of asentence on the table prior to adding (or substituting a word of hisown. But he may not merely rearrange without also adding orsubstituting, and the edge code must be satisfied.

(11) After each sentence is scored, cards are dealt out to replenish theplayers hands, so that each player will have eight cards when playresumes.

(l2) After a player has won a sentence by having the last word, he isthe one who must start the next sentence.

(13) If play is blocked because no player can add to the' first twowords, each player returns any three cards to the dealer (who retiresthem from play for the rest of that game), and is dealt three new cards.No penalty is incurred.

(14) Play continues until one player has scored 150 points (or otheragreed amount).

(15) Each card left unused in a players hand at the end of the gamecounts 5 points against that player. Winner must have' 150 points afterdeducting penalty points for cards left in his hand.

The foregoing rules are merely one example, and may be modified orchanged in other examples.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 4 through 31 of the drawing. Inasmuch aspatents are not printed in color, the drawing indicates color by crosshatching, in accordance with the current rules of the Patent Oice.Horizontal lines represent blue; vertical lines represent red or pink;diagonal lines which slope downward toward the right represent green;diagonal lines which slope downward toward the left represent brown ortan; crossed broken diagonal lines represent orange; `and crossed brokenvertical and horizontal lines represent yellow.

In a particular example of a pack of cards, there were sixteen cards forsingular nouns, these cards being coded as shown in FIG. 4, and eachcard carrying one singular noun. In FIG. 4 the printed noun is omitted,it being any one of a large number of nouns, but all such cards arecoded alike, and in this particular case, the left portion is yellowwith a triangle symbol, and the right portion is orange with a squareand heart symbol.

There were twenty nine cards each carrying a plural noun, and all codedalike and as shown in FIG. 5. The left portion is yellow with a triangleand inverted triangle symbol, andthe right portion is red with a square,a circle, a diamond and a heart symbol, as shown.

Thirteen cards were printed with proper and collective nouns, and werecoded as shown in FIG. 6, in which the left portion is yellow with atriangle and inverted triangle symbol, and the right portion is orangewith a square and a heart symbol.

There were two like cards for the pronoun L coded as shown in FIG. 7, inwhich the left portion has a circle symbol on a blue background, and theright portion has a square and circle on a red background.

There were cards for the pronouns he and she, coded as shown in FIG. 8,having a square and circle symbol on a blue background at the left, anda square and heart symbol on an orange background at the right.

There were cards for the pronouns we and others, these being coded asshown in FIG. 9 with a circle symbol on a blue background at the left,and a square, circle and diamond symbol on a red background at theright.

There were cards for the pronouns you and they, these being coded asshown in FIG. with a circle symbol on a blue background at the left, anda square, circle, diamond and heart symbol on a red background at theright.

To shorten this description, I shall rely hereafter on the drawing asshowing colors lby cross hatching as above explained. The drawing alsoshows the symbols.

There were cards for the words or pronouns it, something, anyone,everybody and everything, coded as shown in FIG. 11.

There were two like cards for the contraction its, coded as shown inFIG. 12.

There were cards for the pronouns you, her, him and them, these beingcoded as shown in FIG. 13.

There were cards for the contractions Ive and youve, coded as shown inFIG. 14.

There were cards for the contractions Id and youd, coded as shown inFIG. 15.

There were cards for the pronouns my, your, its, her, coded as shown inFIG. 16.

There were cards for the pronouns ours, and mine, coded as shown in FIG.17.

There were two like cards for the conjunction-pronoun and me, coded asshown in FIG. 18.

A card for the conjunction-pronoun and I is shown with its code in FIG.19.

Cards having the colors and symbols shown in FIG. 20, were used forverbs, for example is, lets, ignores, tic'klesf kicks, has, smells,likes, loves, accepts, hurts, and lendsf Cards having the colors andsymbols shown in FIG. 21 were used for verbs such as might, can, did,should,- won't, would, may and mustnt.

Cards having the colors and symbols shown in FIG. 22 were used for theverbs seen and hidden Cards having the colors and symbols shown in FIG.23 were used for the verbs had, 10st, sold and kissed Cards having thecolors and symbols shown in FIG. 24 were used for the verbs kiss, beat,envy and want.

Cards having the colors and symbols shown in FIG. 25 were used for theverbs says, knows and understands.

Cards havings the colors and symbols shown in FIG. 26 were used for theverbs are, were, arent, and werent.

Cards having the colors and symbols shown in FIG. 27 were used for theverbs was and wasnt.

Cards having the colors and symbols shown in FIG. 28 were used for theverbs do and dont.

Cards having the colors and symbols shown in FIG. 29 were used foradjectives, and in the present case there were eighteen such cards.

Cards having the colors and symbols shown in FIG. 30 were used for thewords always, then, passionately, almost, and violently.

Cards having the colors and symbols shown in FIG. 31, were used forarticles. In this particular case there were six cards for the articlesa, an and thef For mere play purpose, the backs of the cards may beplain or ornamented in any desired fashion. However, for teaching or forschool purposes, the back of each card may be printed to show what kindof part of speech is represented by the word on the face of the card. Inthe particular example having the back shown in FIG. 32, the face of thecard contains an adverb, and the back of the card so indicates in FIG.32.

The cards illustrated in the drawing do not necessarily represent acomplete pack of cards, but show enough cards to teach how to design anydesired pack of cards. For example, there may be additional cards forthe verbs uhave, uisnat, asbeen, See teach a'ect nds yours chased, gave,threw, saw, forgot, noticed, doesnt and has There may Ibe cards foradverbs such as how, why, what, where and when There may be cards foradjectives such as all, any and some. There may be cards for pronounsme, it, who, and whose, and for the contractions Im and youre.

About half the cards are basic English, and are common to differentdecks of cards. The other half of the cards may contain a vocabularydiffering in diiferent decks, as for example, in a game designed for apro fession such as medicine, or for musicians, or for literary people,or for politicians, or for some specialized group such as hippies Forthe latter the vocabulary would be that associated with the currentturned-on or psychedelic scene. Other decks may be designed for specialage groups, say small children, or teenage children. The selection ofwords is of importance. Words have great emotional significance, and bybringing certain words out into the open, the game helps releaseemotions, which is desirable.

It is believed that the design and manufacture of my improved packs ofcards for sentence building and teaching, as well as the benefitsthereof, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description.

In printing the cards it will be understood that the colors may beapplied along the edge portions only of the cards, the center areabetween the left and right edges being left white or of a desiredneutral color. However, in the cards here illustrated, the color hasbeen carried all the way from the edge to the middle of the card, eventhough this is not at all essential. The cards are shown square but maybe rectangular. They may be made of plastic instead of treatedpaperboard. The rules may differ from the example given above. Somecards may be made rst cards with code marks only on the right edge, andsome may be made last cards with code marks only on the left edge. Thisis shown in FIG. 3A, in which the left side of the card is blank, sothat the card must be used as a irst card.

It will therefore be apparent that while I have shown and describedrepresentative cards in a preferred form, changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, as sought to be dened in thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. A pack of cards for a sentence building game, each card having a partof speech such as a noun or a verb or adjective or adverb, etc., theleft and/or right portions of each card being coded to match with anadjacent card which is appropriate to build a grammatically correctsentence, there being a large number of such cards to make possible alarge number of diiferent sentences, in which at least some of saidcards are provided with a plurality of coded sections along said leftand/or right portions of said cards, said coded sections being adaptedto match with corresponding coded sections on an adjacent card, thematching of at least one and less than all of said plurality of codedsections with corresponding coded sections on an adjacent card beingsuicient to match proper parts of speech for a grammatically correctsentence.

2. The pack of cards as defined in claim 1, in which said plurality ofcoded sections comprise areas having dilferent coloration which areadapted to be matched with correspondingly colored areas on adjacentcards.

3. A pack of cards as defined in claim 1, in which said coded sectionscomprise a plurality of symbols located along the edge ofthe cards.

4. A pack of cards as delined in claim 3, in which each of the symbolscomprising said coded sections is different than any other symbol insaid coded sections.

5. A pack of cards as defined in claim 1, in which said coded sectionscomprise at least one area having a specific coloration and at least onesymbol positioned in an area proximate the area having coloration.

7 6. A pack of cards as defined in claim 1, in which said 3,333,351 8/1967 Williams. coded sections comprise a plurality of notched areas in3,389,480 6/ 1968 Holland. the edge of said cards, each notch being inthe shape of a half symbol, the adjacent edge of an appropriate adjacentFOREIGN PATENTS card being oppositely notched, two notches forming a5,539 of 1887 Great Britain. complete symbol when appropriate cards arejuxtaposed in Side edge-tO-Side edge relative EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, PrimaryExaminer References Cited WILLIAM H. GRIEB, Assistant Examiner UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 10 U'S. Cl. XR. 2,310,800 2/1943 Manhart 35-35 35 71; 273152 7 l 3,330,053 7/ 1967 Hendrix 35--72 X

